Short Stories of Middle Earth
by earthsprite
Summary: A collection of short stories placed in Middle Earth with no real timeline or order.


A/N:

Ok, guys. Please don't kill me for not updating in so long. I promise you that the next chapter of "The Lost Prince" is coming up really soon, but in the mean time, here's a bit of fun that's been sitting in my computer for a few months. I thought you might enjoy reading a few short funny stories about our favorite charcters.

earthsprite

Of Elflings and Mud Balls

"Why me?" The tall blonde elf muttered as he hurried down the hall chasing after the sons of Elrond. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as the rain pounded on the roofs of the Last Homely House. The weather had gone from bad to worse and Elrond had chosen today, of all days, to give the twins nanny the day off. Both Elrond and his wife, Celebrían, where otherwise occupied today with various peace talks and defense meetings, ones that he should be attending….

A crash sounded up ahead quickly followed by guilty silence. An almost silent "oops" could be heard as Glorfindel, captain of Rivendell's defenses, quickly rounded a corner to face two identical elflings looking very guilty and staring down at a very broken and very expensive vase.

"Great…" muttered the Balrog-slayer.

"We didn't…" one started.

"…Do it!" the other finished.

"HONEST" the twins chimed together. The identical twin sons of Elrond were notorious for their mischief and troublesome behavior. Celebrían, mother of the two terrors, had taken to removing all of the breakable and valuable items from the halls of the Last Homely House. Various priceless pieces had already fallen victim to the twins' bundle of endless energy. The twins had, unintentionally found one of the only breakable pieces left in Rivendell. How in the world two 35 year old elflings could hold so much energy and create so much chaos was beyond him.

Glorfindel shook his head. Looking around he noticed that the hallway was quite empty and that they were in a remote part of the house that was rarely used. Glaring at the twins, Glorfindel bent down and began to gather up the pieces of broken pottery. Still looking guilty, Elladan also bent to help, piling up the jagged pieces in the small pouch he had made using his tunic. Carefully, so as not to cut their fingers on the sharp edges of the vase, Glorfindel and Elladan cleaned up a majority of the mess.

"Will you not help clean up your mess, my young Lord?" asked Glorfindel, as he straightened, collected the pieces from Elladan.

"It is not my job to clean up like a servant." Elohir replied and turned to continue down the hall. Before he could take more than ten steps, Glorfindel's hand snaked out and grabbed a hold of the younger twin's slim wrist.

"You shall do your share of the work, my young Lord. _Servant's_ work as you call it. Even a mighty lord must be able to clean up after his own messes." He admonished. Giving a short tug on the arm which he held, he pulled the elfling back to the scene of the crime.

Elladan meanwhile had found a broom and dustpan in a nearby closet. He had deposited the broken pottery in spare waste basket and was now preparing to sweep up the pieces too small to pick up by hand.

"Leave that for you're brother, Elladan. He helped to create this mess; he will also help to clean it up."

"But Glory…!"

"No amount of whining will get you out of this small bit of work, my young Lord." Glorfindel ignored the nickname that the twins had created for him when they were very young. He took the broom and dust pan from Elladan and handed them to Elohir.

"Here you are."

Pouting, Elohir reluctantly took the broom and dust pan that Glorfindel handed him, and began to clumsily sweep up the tiny pieces of pottery remaining. Elladan, not wanting to see his younger twin upset for long, quickly grabbed another broom and made to help his brother in the sweeping up before Glorfindel reached out and plucked the broom from his hands.

"As much as you would like to help him, my lord Elladan, he must do this on his own. You will not be able to aid him all the time." Glorfindel laid a gentle hand on the elder twin's shoulder and stepped back to return the broom to its closet. By the time he had returned, Elohir had swept up the remaining pieces of the vase and deposited them in the same waste bin that Elladan had used. Still sullen, Elohir leaned up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest pouting. Without a word, Glorfindel took the broom and dust pan, returning them to their proper places. He then turned to face his young charges. Not surprisingly, Glorfindel faced an empty hall.

"Just great… this is the last thing I wanted to do today… chasing around elflings when I should be in those defense meetings…" Glorfindel muttered under his breath as he continued down the corridor searching for the missing lords.

It wasn't long before he heard shrieks of laughter and giggles apparently coming from outside. Peering out into the lawn, Glorfindel's eyes bulged at the sight that greeted him. Elladan and Elohir were chasing each other around a much muddied lawn in the down pouring rain. Their robes once clean and neat, were now splattered in mud and most likely ruined. Groaning, Glorfindel smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand and slumped against the doorframe. How was he going to explain this one?

Shrieking and laughing, Elladan chased Elrohir about the yard, slipping and sliding on the muddy ground. His long dark brown hair was plastered to his head and his feet were covered in mud.

" 'Ro! Come back here!" he screeched as he skidded around a turn and slid right into the house, crashing into Glorfindel's legs.

"Oomph!" Glorfindel lost his balance as the elfling took his legs out from underneath him. Splaying out his arms and legs so as to not crush the little elf, Glorfindel fell, not so gracefully, into a heap just to the side of Elladan.

"Oh, Hello Glory!" chirped Elladan, looking at the tangled heap of golden haired elf that promptly landed next to him. "Well, see ya, Glory!" and quicker than Glorfindel could untangle his long limbs the elfling was up and scampering back out into the yard. Grumbling about rain storms, mud, and energetic elflings, Glorfindel proceeded to stand, only to slip on the puddle of muddy water that had been left behind when Elladan had skidded into the doorway. With another muffled cry, Glorfindel landed painfully on his rear end, _again_.

Meanwhile, Elladan and Elrohir continued their game of chase about the yard, splashing through the mud puddles and having a wonderful time.

"Tag! You're it, 'Dan!" Elrohir screeched as he quickly changed directions, his feet slipping and sliding in the mud.

"Not fair 'Ro! I was just it! Come back here!" Elladan tried to chase after his brother, but was not having much success. Realizing that he would not be able to catch up to his younger twin, Elladan reached down and scooped up a small handful of mud. With a mischievous grin on his face he watched his brother run about the yard, still thinking that Elladan was chasing him. He waited for the perfect moment and then let his small mud bomb fly.

Elrohir, completely oblivious to the fact that his older brother was no longer chasing him was stopped in his tracks by a sickly wet splattering feeling spreading across his back. Reaching over his shoulder he felt around until his hand came in contact with a large splatter of especially wet and gooey mud. The look of shock and surprise on his face sent Elladan into a laughing fit.

Elladan stood at the opposite end of the yard laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. Wrapping his arms around his middle he bent over in an attempt to get more are into his oxygen starved lungs as he continued to laugh.

"You… should… have… seen … your face!!" He gasped between bouts of laughter.

"Oh you think that was funny, do you?" Elrohir responded. Quickly he scooped up a large handful of mud and lobed it at Elladan.

Looking up, Elladan had enough time to take a breath before the glob of mud struck him directly in the face.

Wiping the mud off his face with a huge grin, Elladan quickly scooped up another glob of mud and hurled it back at his brother.

Glorfindel had, by now, made his way outside to the bottom of the steps. He was about to intercede in the mud throwing battle when he was promptly hit squarely on the side of his face with a rather large mud ball.

Both elflings stopped, frozen in place. Their eyes were glued to the tall blonde elf who, was now covered in mud.

"Who tossed that mud ball?" Glorfindel asked quietly. So quietly in fact that the twins were sure that they were going to have to run for their lives.

"Um…" Elladan said quietly. He stood looking back and forth between his younger brother and Glorfindel, trying to decide if he should run or not.

_Oh well…There's no going back now. If anyone else sees me I'm dead. Elrond will hear about this latter…_ Glorfindel silently promised himself.

Bending down the Captain of Rivendell's defenses gathered together a handful of mud and packed it into a round ball. Straightening, Glorfindel spun and gracefully tossed the mud ball so it hit Elladan in the chest.

Wide eyed, the elflings stared at the captain of Rivendell's defense. In the time that it took them to recover from the fact that stuffed up old Glorfindel had joined in their mud battle, the blonde elf had launched another mud ball, this time at Elrohir. Both twins now covered in mud squealed and darted about in attempt to avoid the onslaught of mud balls raining down on them. Despite himself, Glorfindel laughed along with them dodging as many mud balls as he was throwing.

Lord Elrond and his wife, Celebrían, were walking wearily down the outer corridors of the Last Homely House; making their way back to the family's rooms. It had been a long day of peace talks and negotiations and both Lord and Lady were tired. As they passed an open balcony, Celebrían stopped and paused a moment to look outside. She was drawn to the childish squeals accompanied by a much deeper laugh. Intrigued, the Lady of the house ventured out onto the balcony. The rain had slowed to nothing more than a light drizzle, but puddles still littered the small outlook. Gazing down into the lawn, she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Her twins, the terrors of Rivendell, were running about the lawn, covered in mud and being chased by a much larger elf, whom she could only assume to be Glorfindel, their stern and respected Captain.

"What is it, _melethin_ (my love)?" Elrond asked as he called from the hallway.

"Come and see." The laughter in his wife's voice was barely contained. Just as curious as his wife, Elrond joined her on the balcony and peered down into the lawn. The twins were now piled on top of a laughing Glorfindel, all three of them a muddied mess. Laughing and pulling his wife closer to him, Elrond said, "I do believe that Glorfindel will be spending more time with the twins from now on."

Celebrían laughed and tried to imagine the look on the blonde haired elf's face when he was asked once again to mind the young twins.

Well there you go... let me know what you think and if you'd like some more short stories. If you have any plot bunnies running around your house feel free to toss them into the review and I'll see what I can do.

earthsprite


End file.
